Have you ever walked by a penny and not picked it up? Welcome to The Lincoln Penny Project!

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Coinstar find nets $1.22....Thanks Coinstar!

I went to a Kirkland, WA QFC grocery store to get the Seattle Times and found a Coinstar machine near the checkout. I looked in the coin return and found a bunch of change waiting for me. Why do so many people leave their change behind? This find brought in $1.21 in change (2 quarters, 6 dimes and 12 pennies. Not a bad find-and it was above ground! When you stop in your next grocery store, look for the Coinstar machine to see what you might be able to find.

Daily total: $1.22Above ground: $1.22Below ground: 0Total to date: $31.80 (39 days of hunting averages out to $.82 per day)

1 comment:

Yeah you'll walk by a coinstar machine 25 times and it'll be empty, then the next one will have 10 or 20 coins in it. Strange, you just have to keep looking and wait for that score. Check around the sides on the floor too.

The Lincoln Penny Project

Our family and friends wonder why people neglect the Lincoln Penny. We run across so many Honest Abe's on the ground it's incredible. Just some quick history about the one cent coin: Victor David Brenner was the designer of the Lincoln Penny in 1909, and it is the longest running coin type in U.S. History (100th year anniversary). The steel penny in 1943 had to be produced instead of the copper coin due to the war. And in 1959, the wheat back penny was replaced with the Lincoln Memorial on the reverse of the coin. How do you like the photo on our homepage that we took last year of the memorial? What was it that Benjamin Franklin said? His famous quote was: "A penny saved is a penny earned."

We started to think how much change we overlook and pass by in a given day. We also know that people just walk by change on the ground because we have witnessed it. If someone else won't pick it up, we will. Hence, the Lincoln Penny Project began on July 12, 2009 ($.38 was found on this - our first day of searching).

Just think about the change that one finds above ground. Can you imagine what kind of coinage can be unearthed? Silver, gold and other treasures are awaiting! A metal detector will arrive for Christmas 2009 to our household. Our blog will eventually post above and below ground finds. Come back often to see our goods!

This is a family affair. It's a competitive game for all of us. Whenever we are out and about-either solo or as a family, each one of us tries to come back with a coin or bill. Be it a penny, nickel, dime or quarter, etc., it's game time! Vacations, day trips or other events are the best time to search for lost coins. These coins are waiting to be found. It's always fun to associate a certain trip or event with some kind of money find. Make it a game-a project for the whole family. Document and photograph your finds when you can. That's what we are doing. Keep an eye on our progress. Happy Hunting!

Our goal or mission for this project is evolving. We have a few plans in mind with our finds, but the main two involve a rainy day fund and charity so far.